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Although the Scopes Monkey Trial took place in 1925—and involved a debate over the teaching of science broadly similar to that outlined in the play, with William Jennings Bryant, Clarence Darrow, and H. L. Mencken filling the “parts” ascribed to Brady, Drummond, and Hornbeck— Inherit the Wind is a post-war play, and its concerns are those of Americans after the Second World War, which ...
- Plot Summary
Inherit the Wind is a play dramatizing the Hillsboro Monkey...
- Summary & Analysis
Melinda exits and Rachel Brown enters. Rachel is 22 and a...
- Themes
The play dramatizes oratory, performance, and public...
- Quotes
Instant downloads of all 1956 LitChart PDFs (including...
- Characters
Instant downloads of all 1956 LitChart PDFs (including...
- Symbols
The Wind. As the play’s title indicates, the wind is a...
- Plot Summary
Although Lawrence and Lee used the Scopes trial as the basis for their play, Inherit the Wind is a work of fiction. In their introduction, Lawrence and Lee make clear that the play is not history. "Some of the characters of the play are related to the colorful figures in the battle of giants; but they have life and language of their own — and ...
Introduction. “Inherit the Wind” is a powerful and engaging play that takes its audience back to the heated courtroom of the fictional Hillsboro trial. Penned by the talented Jerome Lawrence alongside Robert E. Lee, this masterpiece was first brought to the stage in 1955. Set against the backdrop of the 1925 Scopes “Monkey” Trial, the ...
Inherit the Wind, a play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, is a fictionalized account of the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial, in which a Tennessee teacher was prosecuted for teaching evolution. The play was first performed in 1955, during the height of the Cold War and the Red Scare, and it was adapted into a film in 1960 by Stanley Kramer ...
- The Story
- Henry Drummond
- E. K. Hornbeck
- Rev. Jeremiah Brown
- Matthew Harrison Brady
- Fact vs Fiction
A science teacher in a small Tennessee town defies the law when he teaches the theory of evolution to his students. His case prompts a renowned fundamentalist politician/lawyer, Matthew Harrison Brady, to offer his services as the prosecuting attorney. To combat this, Brady’s idealistic rival, Henry Drummond, arrives in town to defend the teacher a...
The lawyer characters on both sides of the courtroom are compelling. Each attorney is a master of rhetoric, but Drummond is the noblest of the two. Henry Drummond, patterned after famed lawyer and ACLU member Clarence Darrow, is not motivated by publicity (unlike his real-life counterpart). Instead, he seeks to defend the teacher’s freedom to think...
If Drummond represents intellectual integrity, then E. K. Hornbeck represents the desire to destroy traditions simply out of spite and cynicism. A highly biased reporter on the side of the defendant, Hornbeck is based upon esteemed and elitist journalist H. L. Mencken. Hornbeck and his newspaper are dedicated to defending the school teacher for ult...
The community’s religious leader stirs up the town with his fiery sermons, and he disturbs the audience in the process. The overbearing Rev. Brown asks the Lord to smite the wicked proponents of evolution. He even calls upon the damnation of the school teacher, Bertram Cates. He asks God to send Cates’ soul into hellfire, despite the fact that the ...
The extremist views of the reverend allow Matthew Harrison Brady, the fundamentalist prosecuting attorney, to be viewed as more moderate in his beliefs, and therefore more sympathetic to the audience. When Rev. Brown summons the wrath of God, Brady calms the pastor and soothes the angry mob. Brady reminds them to love one’s enemy. He asks them to r...
Inherit the Wind is a blend of history and fiction. Austin Cline, ThoughtCo’s Guide to Atheism/Agnosticism, expressed his admiration for the play but also added: “Unfortunately, a lot of people treat it as far more historical than it really is. So, on the one hand, I'd like more people to see it both for the drama and for the bit of history that it...
Inherit the Wind ignored the true dramatic moment, which is essential to the actual trial that happened in Dayton, Tennessee. Kramer even portrayed his own opinion of this trial in this film. The truth was so distorted in the film so now the argument is not individual vs. society or evolution vs. religion but history vs. fiction.
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In-depth Facts: playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. type of work Play. genre Courtroom drama. language English. time and place written Early 1950s; United States. date of first publication 1955. publisher Random House. tone Playful and ironic at times, but often carries weighty symbolic significance.
